"A Sign from the
Spiritual Teacher, Maitreya" ran the television story. "A strange phenomenon
in Auckland tonight, or is it? Believers say the crosses of light in
their windows are spiritual symbols, but scientists are more sceptical."

New Zealand TV3
Nightline news commentary added: "They call it the cross of light, inspiration
of hope and better living. Discovered all over the world, the latest
appearance is in a bathroom window on Aucklandís North Shore. The crosses
appear as a hologram through glass and can be seen by shining a light
onto it."

Paul Larkin, who
has the cross in his home, was featured with his friends on this national
television programme. After interviewing Paul Larkin, the Nightline
announcer spoke to Dr Tom Barnes, lecturer in Image Processing and Optics,
Physics Department, at the Auckland University. Speaking from the Physics
Department laboratory and demonstrating the effect of a laser beam shining
on a piece of the same glass, Dr Barnes said: "The glass has got an
array of dimples along the back and you can see that if I rub my fingernail
over it you can hear the buzz. These dimples act like little lenses,
and when the laser beam goes through that array of lenses, they bend
the light more in the vertical and horizontal directions than they do
in the diagonal, so you see a cross."

Later Share International
asked Dr Barnes if he had seen this latest cross in Devonport, Auckland.
"No, I havenít," said Dr Barnes. "I canít have any opinion about that
cross but you probably remember there were crosses of light in Auckland
about three years ago. We can explain how the cross of light occurs
using the laws of physics."

Dr Barnes was not
able, however, to answer the question how in some bathrooms there are
two identical windows in the house, the crosses appearing only on one
window.

Share International
correspondent Shirley Nairn interviewed Paul Larkin at his home. He
is a young Aucklander who is studying to be a naturopath. He works as
a sign-writer and is also a member of a Transmission Meditation group
in the city.

Share International:
Paul, what were your thoughts when you first saw the cross?

Paul Larkin:
My first impression was "Wow!" It was just amazing, out of the blue.
Iíd seen the other crosses that had appeared in Auckland* but didnít
expect one in my own home.

SI: Was
anything special going on in your life at the time you discovered the
cross?

PL: I was
at a bit of a turning point. I was working out how to balance the different
parts of my life. I was going through a lot of problems with my studies.
I came to the conclusion that I had to give something up and the only
thing I could give up was the meditation to concentrate on my studies.

SI: Did
the cross seem significant to you then?

PL: It certainly
was. It was reassuring me that everything was going to be all right,
that I was on the right track, and that I should keep on with the meditation.

SI: You
know there are many crosses of light in the world and quite a cluster
of them in Los Angeles, California. People who have crosses manifested
in their houses describe how whole families and communities have been
transformed by the healing energies of the crosses. Have you experienced
any healing energies?

PL: I can
definitely feel energy coming from the cross. It was especially potent
in the first few days after it appeared. Many people who come and see
it experience energy. I think you have to sit there and quieten yourself
and then you can feel it.

SI: Will
you use this window with the cross on it in your work with natural medicines?

PL: Yes.
I think it can be used. Definitely there are energies coming from it
and those energies will be felt and will benefit people I am working
with. Just having the cross in the room is enough.

SI: Scientists
may say that it is just a pattern in the glass and that certain types
of opaque glass will show a cross when a light is held up to it, or
when light is reflected in it.

PL: That's
true. But itís difficult to explain why it wasnít there before I moved
in or why the previous tenants who were in the house for four years
didnít see it. This is something we now see every night. Itís not something
you can miss. As the light goes on the cross appears.

SI: You
may know that in some of the houses in Los Angeles there are two identical
windows in the bathroom. The glass is the same in each window and yet
a cross of light will appear in one window and not in the other.

PL: There
are actually two panes of glass in our bathroom but one has a slightly
bigger dimple pattern in the glass itself and does not produce the same
cross. The pattern is completely different.

SI: Paul,
you are a sign writer. Do you view the cross you have in your house
as a spiritual symbol?

PL: Yes.
Itís a major sign to me to stick with it and to keep going. Various
people will have different opinions about it. They may say itís the
sign of a Coming Teacher. It may be. I like people to take from it what
they want. Different opinions are valid.